Also, state government specialists in unemployment benefits, job searches and dislocated-worker services met with Fingerhut employees in Eveleth, MN, where the company runs a call center with 350 workers.

Leaders of career-retraining programs in St. Cloud, MN, where Fingerhut employs 2,700 at a distribution center, are preparing to testify today before Minnesota legislative committees that fund the state's dislocated-workers program. If a sale does not occur and Fingerhut is closed, employees may become eligible for money from the program.

Four potential buyers have been identified.

According to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, a potential buyer group led by Peter Lytle of the Business Development Group, Wayzata, MN, met Monday with state attorney general Mike Hatch and a representative of Ventura's office. Neither Lytle or Hatch would comment on the specifics of the discussions.